Chapter 16: Go Deal with His Accomplices?
Before Shiromo enlightened everyone, their thinking had actually been quite similar to Itachi's.
They believed that the Daimyo controlled the economy, the Kage controlled the military, and that the ninja villages could not function without the Daimyo's support.
In reality, the so-called Daimyo were nothing more than bullies who preyed on the weak.
The Raikage of Kumogakure was powerful and often ignored Daimyo's opinions outright.
The Kazekage of Sunagakure was weak, which led to repeated budget cuts.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was relatively influential, yet when faced with someone as strong as Danzo, he cowered like a pig.
When he encountered someone as naïve as Naruto, he tried to befriend him.
But when facing someone like Shikamaru, who lacked strength, influence, and prestige, he took the initiative instead, using his status to act arrogant and domineering.
Therefore, Shiromo's assessment was entirely accurate: the Daimyo system was an outdated institution, and the Daimyo themselves were like bloodsucking parasites clinging to the nation.
If Shiromo's words were heard by the people of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, even the Kumogakure Village, which already had a strained relationship with its Daimyo, would consider them outrageous.
However, those present were all rogue ninja, unbound by such conventional thinking.
"No problem, Zabuza. You really are more suited to assassinating the Daimyo together with Kisame. After all, you've already tried to assassinate a Mizukage, one more charge won't make much difference. It also saves you from having to use the Executioner's Blade to slap away a Tailed Beast Ball like the previous owner did."
Shiromo affirmed Zabuza's resolve, but, "Your mouth really is sharp," Zabuza muttered. "By the way, is that how Jūzō died? He really was bold."
Zabuza's lips twitched.
Using a sword to bat away a Tailed Beast Ball, what kind of terrifying feat was that?
"Jūzō Biwa was my former partner," Uchiha Itachi interjected. "We faced the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, together. He died there."
Mentioning Jūzō stirred memories for Itachi.
It was during that mission that he first used Amaterasu.
~
They soon arrived at the bridge in the Land of Waves.
Gato and his large group of mercenaries had been lying in ambush for some time.
"That guy probably wanted both me and the escorting ninja to be seriously injured, then planned to wait here and finish me off, right? If Kisame and the others hadn't shown up, that bastard might've actually succeeded!"
Zabuza grinned as he took in the scene.
"Zabuza-san, you're injured. Leave this to me."
Haku stepped forward, three senbon needles held between his fingers.
"Haku's strength is more than enough to deal with this trash, you see..."
Zabuza glanced at Shiromo and the others.
"Let me try it first. After all, I'm still a pure white boy, I've never killed anyone before."
Shiromo shook his head.
"Oh? Then you really should test yourself against enemies who pose no real threat."
Kisame was briefly surprised, then nodded in agreement.
"Never killed anyone… it seems the future ninja world may enjoy a fairly long period of peace."
Uchiha Itachi smiled faintly.
"It could also be that we're simply not qualified to fight true enemies. Even Kage are nothing more than meat on a chopping block, it's hard enough to injure them, let alone kill them."
Shiromo refuted Itachi's statement.
The peace that emerged less than twenty years after the Naruto and Sasuke war in the original timeline was peace bought at a cost.
Those two deliberately concealed the threat of the Ōtsutsuki clan, allowing the ninja world to relax temporarily.
The price was that twenty years later, when the Ōtsutsuki attacked, the entire ninja world was completely unprepared.
This was largely due to overconfidence and ignorance of the Ōtsutsuki's true strength.
Although the ninja world appeared to be advancing rapidly, developing various scientific ninja tools, it was in fact being subtly suppressed.
Orochimaru's research was constantly monitored and restricted by Konoha, while Kabuto Yakushi essentially became the head of an orphanage.
The two most outstanding scientific talents were effectively restrained.
Speaking of Kabuto Yakushi in the future, He was one of the few people Shiromo actually knew in Konoha at the time.
"Would you like to borrow my sword?" Zabuza asked.
"No need. I'm not like you, I'm not bloodthirsty."
Shiromo refused.
Zabuza laughed and was about to say something, when he suddenly realized Shiromo had vanished.
Turning around, he saw Gato's mercenary squad in complete chaos.
At some point, Shiromo had appeared behind Gato and punched straight through his chest, tossing him aside like trash.
"This is what you call 'not bloodthirsty'? Is this really his first time killing someone?"
Zabuza was speechless.
Even for someone from the Village of the Bloody Mist, his first kill hadn't been this decisive and ruthless.
Although he had slaughtered all his classmates during his graduation exam at the age of nine, including his own teammates, that hadn't been his first kill.
His first had simply been slitting a throat with a kunai.
Then again, it wasn't that strange.
After all, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run.
Shiromo had only said he hadn't killed anyone before, not that he'd never seen death.
As for Itachi's talk of "peace in the ninja world," Zabuza didn't understand it at all.
"So it really is an amplification like Sage Chakra…"
After seeing Shiromo punch straight through Gato, Itachi's earlier suspicion was confirmed.
According to Uchiha records, the most obvious trait of Sage Mode was an increase in physical strength.
Sensory abilities would also be enhanced, though that couldn't be seen directly.
Appearance was supposed to change too.
Itachi had previously dismissed the idea because Shiromo differed greatly from the recorded descriptions, there was no visible change in appearance, nor any sense of a time limit.
But that punch erased his doubts.
Shiromo wasn't as cruel or bloodthirsty as Zabuza assumed.
He had likely just wanted to test his strength and underestimated it.
"Sorry, everyone. I don't know any ninjutsu. Please bear with the pain."
As he spoke, Shiromo dealt with two more rogue samurai.
Two rogue samurai exchanged glances, confident in their invincibility, and slashed at Shiromo.
The next instant, they realized their attacks had finished, but hit nothing.
A moment later, both were struck in the forehead by shuriken thrown from afar.
It wasn't Shiromo.
Their own mercenary allies had accidentally wounded them.
"Damn it, this guy's too troublesome! Ignore him, deal with his accomplices!"
One of the rogue ninjas shouted.
Some of the mercenaries hesitated.
With Gato dead, why risk their lives?
Several quietly slipped away.
The rest charged toward Itachi and Kisame.
"…Huh?"
Left standing alone, Shiromo stared blankly at the suddenly empty space around him.
These people were really asking for trouble.
He could easily overpower them here, but his efficiency wasn't great.
As long as they weren't mindless, they could just run once too many people started dying.
But instead, they charged headlong into danger.
Were they trying to get themselves killed?
"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
A massive shark formed from water surged up from beneath the bridge, swallowing the charging ninja and samurai whole before crashing back into the river.
Blood and debris splattered everywhere.
Silence fell instantly.
(End of this chapter)